


To Slip From Time

by MCUsic_to_my_ears



Series: Continuum [2]
Category: Iron Man (Comics), Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Attempted School Bombing, Brian Banner's A+ Parenting, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Bruce Banner Feels, Bruce Banner Has Issues, Bruce Banner Is a Good Bro, Bruce Banner Needs a Hug, Child Abuse, Clint Barton Is a Good Bro, Depression, Dissociation, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Gen, I promise, Just Not Particularly Right Now, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Mental Institutions, Panic, Panic Attacks, Steve Rogers Is a Good Bro, Suicide Attempt, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Is a Good Bro, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-01-13 02:09:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 3,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18459287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MCUsic_to_my_ears/pseuds/MCUsic_to_my_ears
Summary: The purpose of Joe's creation comes to light. Tony tries to keep the system together, even with limited access. Safety is threatened, but Bruce's friends will come through, alter or otherwise.





	1. Joe

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't think this was ever going to get written, but I'm very glad that it was! Everything is written, more updates to come!

Tony was just pulling into the parking lot when his phone started buzzing. He figured it was his mom, asking why he wasn't on his way to Cornell right now. He wasn't quite sure either. Just, something in Bruce's voice on Skype last night sounded funny, nervous in a way Tony hadn't heard since freshman year. Tony knew that Bruce had been going through a rough patch the last few weeks, with his mother's anniversary looming around the corner, just in time for finals and his father's parole hearing. The nights had been longer for both of them, but last night had seemed at least okay for Bruce. None of the crying or screaming or panicking that had moonlighted their last series of calls.

Maybe it was lack of something that was tipping him off.

But when he saw the call was from Bruce, he got a little worried. When he heard it _wasn't_ Bruce he got a lotta worried.

"Tony?"

"Um- um, Joe? Sorry. What's up?"

He put his car in reverse, ready to race to Elaine's house when Joe asked, voice clear in a way Tony had never heard it before, "Can you come to the basement of the school? Bruce built it, so I had to stop him. I dismantled it, but you need to evacuate the school. He needs help and that means attention."

"What?"

As Joe explained, Tony slipped in through an open door in the back of the school. Moments before he entered the stairwell to the basement, he pulled the fire alarm. Grumbling among the students covered his thumping heart as he ran down the stairs.

Joe was sitting in one of Bruce's post panic attack hideouts, staring at the rudimentary bomb before him. Tony swallowed before he sat down next to the alter.

"Thanks for calling me," Tony whispered.

Joe nodded.

"What's going on in there?"

Joe shrugged. "Hopefully something productive. I pulled Bruce back before he could set it off. Rick helped me disarm it, but he left while I called you."

Tony nodded. He let the silence rest a moment, before he asked, "Ready to get out of here?"

"What are you going to do to us?"

"First off, ‘to us’ is a bit strong, but. I'm going to go up to the police or whoever showed up since I set off the alarm and tell them what happened. You guys- the body isn't 18. Hopefully, it will be okay. If it isn't, I'll figure it out. You know I will. Okay?"

"Okay," Joe echoed.

The school had never felt colder as they traveled through the empty halls. Doors were still ajar, backpacks abandoned. Tony was lucky that Joe had been there. Otherwise, his classmates would have been missing in a very real sense. Except. The more he thought about it, the more meticulous Tony realized Bruce's planning had been. Clint and Steve were both at an away meet for track. Natasha was still on her spring break trip to visit family in Russia. Thor had an internship the first half of the school day on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and by God, it was a Tuesday. Tony himself was meant to be on a college visit at that moment.

Bruce had known exactly what he was doing.

Tony just didn't know why. The bomb was pressed against Tony's shoulders, weighing heavier with each realization, hidden in his backpack. The pair quickly sighted a pair of police cars across the parking lot, their principal was talking with them in frustration.   
Tony led the way.

"Excuse me?"

"Mr. Stark, if you could please go stand with your class, we are-"

"I pulled the fire alarm."

"Anthony-"

"I swear, it was for a really good reason."

And he began.


	2. Red Hulk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for implied/mentioned self-harm

Tony sat in the waiting area, properly shamed. He wasn't a bad friend for ratting Bruce out, he knew that, but the influx of Snapchats and texts filled with rumors from Bruce’s and his friends--and worse, Bruce's less-than-friends--all begging for verification, were bringing him to question that assertion. He had already answered all of the detective's questions, he didn't have the emotional energy to go through it all again. He'd sent a brief explanation into their friend group chat, after stressing discretion, texted his mom, wishing her a safe trip to New York, and turned off his phone, dropping his head down.

He wasn't completely sure if he was allowed to leave, nor if he even wanted to yet. The exhaustion of the day, even though school wasn't even technically supposed to be out yet, was already too much for him.

It was in that haze that the screaming from the other interrogation room began. The one Joe had been shuffled into hours before.

The string of profanities and garbled howls didn't stop. Tony bit his lip, trying to clear his head. He knew he was already in deep shit, but he walked over to the nearest cop anyway.

"Son, you need to sit back down until your guardian arrives." Right. He forgot he was supposed to contact one of those. Whoops.

"I know, I, um. I just, the other guy that came in with me? He isn't- He is really-” Tony grasped for language. “-really triggered in the other room. And I, I know how to make him stop screaming. I promise, I'm not up to anything-" He raised his hands to indicate just that. "-I just want to help my friend."

The cop was about to respond when the door opened to the second interrogation room.

The detective walked out coolly, en route to his desk, when the cop Tony had been speaking to stopped him. "Phil, this boy wants to speak with you."

"Yes. Um, sir. My friend, Bruce Banner- the guy who's screaming right now? He's um." Tony flinched at the latest batch garbled curse words. "Look, he's going to hurt himself if you don't let me stop him and then I can explain what's going on. I just-"

The detective studied him. Red Hulk wailed. "Alright."

Tony took in the scene a moment. Red Hulk was pulling dangerously at the cuffs, which were attached to the table. He was angry, rabid.

Tony rolled his shoulders.

"Hey! Stop it. This isn't your body to hurt. Bruce and Rick and the others will be pissed if you don't calm down right now." Red Hulk glared at him with such hate in his eyes it burned. He was pulling hard enough at the cuffs that he began to draw blood. Tony thought a moment, before changing tactics.

"You're scaring me. I'm upset. I want to be safe, but I can't when you're acting like this."   
Red Hulk stilled. Blinked.


	3. Rebecca

Tony knew the second Rebecca was on top.  Suddenly, it was silent in the room. 

The detective looked at Tony in confusion. "Mr. Banner?" he asked. 

"Rebecca," Tony corrected. He sighed, drained. "Rebecca, are you okay?" 

"Oh, Tony," she murmured. "I'm so sorry, dear." She looked at her cut wrists, brow furrowed. 

Tony breathed in deeply. "Rebecca, I need your permission to tell this man about everyone. Otherwise, I don't." He shook his head. "I don't want to keep you from the others. But I need an anp, just for a moment." 

"Of course, dear.” She attempted a smile, but it was like the muscles on Bruce's face weren't accustomed to it anymore. His heart sunk. He should have noticed before.

“Whatever you think is best. We trust you." 

"Are you going?" 

"I don't know who else would come up," she frowned. 

"Then go to sleep. You need it." 

Rebecca nodded, motioning for him to sit.

She took Tony's hands into own before she drifted off. No one else came up. 

"Son?" 

Tony nodded. He looked up. "Have you heard of Sybil?" 

The detective listened until Elaine came to confirm and sign off of Bruce's transfer to the nearest mental hospital. 

Tony followed the squad car that was taking Bruce until they got there, watching one of the not Bruce's--he hoped Rick--bing guided into the gray structure, with ‘St. Mary's Hospital’ stenciled on the side. When they were no longer visible, Tony turned back and drove to Elaine's house. Bruce's aunt welcomed him in, and they went through old photo albums of Bruce and Jen that Elaine had saved. 

Tony didn't think it was possible to cry that much in one night. 


	4. Hulk

Two days later, their school had been reopened after a thorough investigation, although Tony hadn't joined them yet due to the out of school suspension he'd been so kindly gifted. He couldn't recall the precise reason behind it, but he wasn't exactly complaining. His mom wouldn't be back in town for another week, so there was no disappointment--or worse, sympathy--eyes following him around and no one to tell him ‘no’ when he drove thirty minutes to St. Mary's. 

The nurse at the front desk was skeptical, but after calling Elaine--who bestowed nephew-ship, and thus, familial status, on Tony--he was let through. The nurse guided him through a labyrinth of hallways until they landed outside a door with a cat poster hanging lopsided on it. 

Inside, Bruce- not Bruce was coloring on a piece of green cardstock across the table from Tony, in a closet of a room. The walls were a dirty yellow. Tony thought it was poetic, if not appropriate. 

"Hey," Tony whispered. 

The hand shook around the gummy, purple crayon. 

Hulk then. 

"Hey, big guy." Tony bit his lip. "How's it going?" 

Hulk reached out for Tony. "Sad." 

"I know."

"Her." 

"Who?"

He started crying, sobbing really. Tony blinked back his own tears. "Mama!" he yelped, grabbing at Tony. 

Tony pulled Hulk into his arms. Then. 


	5. Bea

Then Hulk was pushing away from Tony. 

"What-?" 

Bea screamed, high pitched, painful. 

Tony's eyes burned. 

"I know. I know, kid." He shouldn't have come. 

He hoped that she would wear herself out, let the body get some rest, to finally erase the dark smudges under his eyes. 

But before her first wail even finished, a nurse opening the door. 

"Oh, dear, what caused this?" His cheeriness only worsened Bea's panic.

"They're upset. Bea is taking the worst of it." 

"Alright, kid." The nurse ushered him out. Tony stood dumbfounded for a moment. A small group of patients passed by. They glanced at the door Tony was staring at, but kept walking. The cat mocked Tony. 

Bea didn't quiet for several minutes. 

Tony slouched down when they came out, deflated at the innocence on Bruce's face. The body was unconscious, hanging in the nurse's arms. Tony wasn't sure who caused it.


	6. Rosaline

School had been… strange. Everyone looked a little lost. A little confused. A lot blameful. People stared at Tony, angry, as if he’d built the bomb himself. It felt a little bit like he had, sometimes, when he was faced with it. 

He went through the first part of his day with his head down. It didn't help. 

“Have you talked to Bruce?” Steve asked quietly at lunch, trying to match the quiet of the room. Tony had never been able to hear his own heartbeat before, but now he knew what panic felt like. “You haven't answered any of my texts.” There was sympathy on Steve's face, edging on pity. Tony wanted to claw it off, to do  _ something _ , but he didn't have the energy. 

Tony blinked. “Yeah. Or, um. Not Bruce. But, like a Not Bruce.” His stomach churned. 

Steve nodded. “Are they doing alright?” 

Thor and Clint leaned in as well. Natasha was still out of the country. 

“He's-” Tony shook his head. “They're trying to get a handle on things. I'm going over right after school.”

Clint put a hand over Tony's shaking fingers. His OSS wasn't long enough. 

The rest of the day was spent in the nurse's office, trying not to vomit. 

When Tony stopped in that night, notes from Bruce's friends stuffed in his pockets, it was the tail end of visiting time. The woman at the front desk was very happy to inform him of that, along with the fact that he wasn't permitted to see Bruce. 

"Mr. Banner’s non-family visits have been revoked for the time being. He spent the morning verbally harassing other patients, so following policy, we are obliged to suspend those privileges for his benefit." 

"Verb- Is she-” Tony took a deep breath. “-he still mad?" 

The nurse inclined her head. "Mr. Banner seems to still be disturbed, yes."

She didn’t blink. Her smile is placid. Ingenuine and painfully strenuous. 

Tony clenched his teeth. "I know how to trigger someone else out. They're pinballing between personalities right now because there's a lot of turmoil in there." 

She raised an eyebrow. "Personalities?" 

"Yeah... you guys do know? Elaine said that she told the doctor at his intake." 

"Son, 'multiple personalities' do not exist. Mr. Banner has an alternative diagnosis which you are not privy to."

"Bruce has-" 

"Son-" 

"For the love of God. I know Bruce Banner better than anyone else in this building. If he's pissed off, then I know how to make him stop. It's Russian roulette for you all, but I'm throwing darts with pinpoint accuracy. Now let me see my friend!" 

Tony was sent home. 

Elaine informed him that Rosaline was still on top when she visited Bruce the next day. 


	7. Bruce

A week later, after Steve and Natasha's prodding and Elaine's encouragement, he went back. None of the rest of Bruce's friends were game to try and intrude what Tony supposed was healing. But Tony knew Bruce. Knew that if any parts of Bruce were going to ‘heal’, then they needed touch with the outside world. Tony wanted to be that for the system. 

There was an older black man at the front desk this time, with glasses that looked like they hadn't been cleaned in fifty years. He let Tony through without any real hassle, telling Tony that he must be a good sibling to come all the way out here for his brother, and guided him into the room where he’d seen Bruce on his previous visit. The cat poster seemed a lot less intimidating now. 

Bruce was let in a few minutes after Tony. Not a not Bruce, but  _ Bruce _ . Tony was a little surprised but no less excited. He had his arms wrapped around Bruce in a matter of seconds. 

"I missed you."

And, "Are you okay?"

Bruce shook his head, burrowing further into Tony's hold. "... on top... while..." he mumbled. 

"Have you seen Elaine yet?" 

"No." 

"Hey, it's okay. I'm glad your safe."

"I'm sorry." 

"I know." Tony led Bruce to sit down. "Are they helping you guys? What's going on in there?" 

Bruce blinked. "I think... we're starting to stabilize. At least, Rick says so.” He bit his lip. “Everyone's really mad at me," he admitted. 

"Nobody knew?" 

Bruce shook his head. "Red Hulk maybe, but-” He shrugged. “We were having really bad communication. Still are."

"Memory transference?"

"Yeah. That."

Tony studied Bruce for a long minute. His posture was slouched and his fingers drumming against his leg. He was very pale and the blue medical badge looked as if it were cutting into his skin. 

"I really did miss you," Tony reminded. 

"You too."

"I'm here for you." 

"Thank you."


	8. Robby

Tony visited every day after that. Knowing that Bruce was still going to be on top was a huge peace of mind for Tony, even if he only saw a revolving door of alters for the following week. 

At the end of that week, Bruce was released into outpatient care, though he definitely was not allowed back at school. Elaine, the detective, and Bruce's social worker were all working on a solution. Tony was secretly glad, even though he would miss seeing Bruce every day. He didn't want Bruce to get harassed any more. Not when he'd seen what a persistent combination of that and depression had done to Bruce. Bruce  _ and _ the system deserved more than that. 

Tony wanted to skip school to help get Bruce resettled, but his mom was back in town and he didn't want to disappoint her in the first week. Instead, he waited until after school to rush over. He had discussed with Steve whether or not the others should join him, but it was agreed that nobody wanted to overwhelm Bruce. Not on his first day home. And Tony had promised that he'd leave if he were overwhelming anyone. 

He knocked on the door, anxiety jolting through him until Elaine opened up. He didn’t know what to expect, but he supposed he was glad when Elaine confided, “He's been upstairs since we got home. I, um, heard the Legos being pulled out.”

“Oh. That's fair.” 

She smiled softly. This ordeal had brought her more on board with the whole DID thing, Tony supposed as he climbed the stairs. At least one good thing had come out of it.  

Not Bruce- Robby, based on the make-believe game he had going, looked up at Tony, who waved, kneeling down. 

“Hey, bud,” he smiled. The system having fun was always ideal, even if they could only channel that excitement through Robby. “It's good to see you.” 

The little boy grinned, quickly catching Tony up in the game. 

When Tony facetimed Steve later that night, he only had good things to say. 


	9. Rick

Bruce got signed up for an online program through the government to finish high school and a number on the Americans with Disabilities list. Tony knew both were a long time coming. 

He was working on homework already when Tony met him at the library with Clint in tow. Tony thought a moment before breaking out into a grin. "It's been a while." It really,  _ really _ had.

Clint glanced at Tony, clearly hoping for a clue in. He stuck his thumbs behind his backpack straps awkwardly. 

Rick inclined his head. "I've been running damage control. Not much time to get out."

Tony took pity on Clint, although he felt it was a little obvious who was on top. Maybe just for him though. “It's good that you are. Out, I mean. It's good to see you, Rick.” 

Clint nodded. “It is,” he echoed, rocking on his feet. 

“It's good to be here.”

“You all going to be okay?” Tony asked, taking a seat and pulling out his multivariable homework.  

“They will even if they don't like it.” The threat was clearly sent internally. 

Tony laughed. “Good.” 

Clint glanced between them before rolling his eyes, spinning his chair around so could lean on the back, and then sitting down in one swift movement. “At this rate, y'all are never going to teach me special triangles.” 

Rick grinned, “We're all in this together, Clint,” referencing his scrawled integral statements. 

Tony couldn't help but agree.


End file.
